Abscond to the Other Side

by BlazeSilvermageVIII

After unexpectedly bonding over their similar struggles, America takes Hungary to a place to escape their lives as nations even for a little while, a place where where no one will ever find them... another world. As America and Hungary enjoy their time in the other world, a threat looms, and they'll find that sometimes they can't simply just escape from problems.

3. The Park of Hopes and Dreams

Thanks to Redbayly, Kramburg, NekoraNeko709 and NadiaJA627 for reviewing! Heh... sorry for being late... again... but I've been busy and I'm sure that the next update will be sooner! I hope this chapter makes up for it! Now, on with the show!

Meanwhile, in the Light World…

(Deltarune OST: School)

Taiwan didn't even care how silly, childish or overdramatic she probably (maybe) looked right now, she kept loudly wailing and screaming enough to shatter all the windows in the building as she kept her face buried in Australia's koala… And America was right, it did smell like mud, poop, and chalk.

Ewwww…

Oh, Taiwan didn't care! She's too depressed to scream in disgust and throw the koala at Australia's face.

Speaking of America, Taiwan froze up, and then ended up crying even harder than before. Oh, it's not fair! Why did Taiwan's life had to be so unfair? Okay, maybe that's life for nations and there's nations who were going through stuff than her right now, but this was just ridiculous! She felt miserable, dejected, whatever! And she just couldn't take any more of the usual crap in her life today…

Especially when she was really looking forward to hanging out with America today after enduring the old man's usual rants and demands for her to stop trying to become a completely independent nation again! That, and today she once again tried appealing (begging) other nations to recognize her. And as usual, her dreams were crushed (this time even harder), and America ran off with Hungary of all people to who-knows-where!

Since when did they decide to be great friends and chase Australia and New Zealand through the halls to use to their pets to vent out their frustrations? Since when did America allow Hungary to tow him away? Aside from feeling flat-out depressed and disappointed, Taiwan's feeling confused!

Surely this couldn't mean…

No, no, stupid Taiwan! What did your boss say about jumping to conclusions?

Oh… Well, at least Australia offered to let her borrow his koala… And speaking of Australia, Taiwan vaguely heard him remark:

"Wow… That Sheila's more down under than our countries, Zea!"

Was that supposed to be a joke?

Wait…

Why was she doing this? Why was she just standing there crying into the what must be the most foul-smelling koala known to man? Seriously, Australia? Chalk? Honestly, sometimes you make South Korea look like a genius. But anyway, what the heck was she doing? This was pathetic of her!

Finally, she got her face out of the koala, who was surprisingly asleep despite her loud wailing, and with a determined gaze she shoved the animal into Australia's chest. Yeah, why was she wasting her time here crying for her small chances of being acknowledged as a real nation when America's out there, waiting for her!

"No…" Taiwan muttered, and she shook her head vehemently. "I'm not going to give up and throw a tantrum and the towel just because as something as small as this! So what if this day didn't go the way I wanted? I've been through worse… so… so much worse… I didn't get this far by moping around!"

"Uh… You think she's talking us, Zea?"

"I'm not quite sure."

"Yeah, that's right…" Taiwan encouragingly to herself, ignoring the other two. "I'm gonna go out, find Ally, use my cute charms to convince to hang out with me, give me some more weapons and maybe a couple of nuclear missiles, and once again try to have him recognize me as a nation!"

"You know, I think she's monologuing out loud to herself, maybe."

"I think you might be right…"

"TAIWAN, WHERE ARE YOU, ARU?!"

Taiwan froze mid-dramatic step, and she paled. Oh god, that shitty old fart was up already? Shouldn't he have a concussion or something?

"Uh-oh…" Taiwan blinked, and she looked around frantically. "I... really better skedaddle."

Not wasting time, she made a run for it for the door just as it opened to reveal a seriously pissed-off China.

He gave her that angry old man face. "Taiwan, you-"

"Tell it to someone who cares, you shitty old fart!" Taiwan snarled as she whooshed past him, pushing him aside in the process, and, hearing screech as he fell face-first to the ground while she ran like her life depended on it out of the room and into the halls,

Now… where did they go?

Taiwan felt a little stupid for not realizing sooner that she had no idea where those two went off to.

Well, wherever they were, it shouldn't be too hard for her to find them, right?

/ / / / /

Meanwhile, back at the Dark World…

(Pokémon Black and White OST: Castelia City)

"Flavio, for fuck's sake, stop staring at the shops with sales like a fucking idiot and focus on the road!" America growled with his fingers twitching from the passenger's seat, once again cursing the fact that he wasn't allowed to bring his sweet bat. "We don't have time for your stupid shopping sprees! And we're gonna be late if you don't move it or lose it!"

"But there's a fifty percent discount today at…" Romano trailed off, and America groaned when he saw his 'brother's' eyes sparkle. "Ooh, are those shoes on sale?"

"Who cares if there's… Hey, that leather jacket's not half-bad..." America said distractedly as they passed another shop, then he shook his head vehemently. "W-Wait, no! NO! Just drive, Flavio! You can go max your shitty brother's shitty credit card later!"

"But maybe we can buy a present for Alfredo in one of the shops!" Romano suggested hopefully, but the redhead's not having any of it.

"No way, Jose! I'm not gonna waste my time waiting in an uncomfortable chair listening to shitty Spotify music while you try on a gazillion outfits!" America snarled in disgust. "Besides, you know Chops can only wear his default cowboy clothes here!"

"Si, but you know that he can bring items back to his world!"

"I don't care. We're not going!"

Prussia sighed for the thousandth from the seat next to Romano. "You two, please, calm down. Allen, I understand your impatience, but that's no excuse to behave so disrespectfully. And Flavio, I know you want to go shopping, as you always do, but you can go after we visit Alfred."

Romano's curl drooped, and he whimpered. "I really want those shoes…"

"And you'll have them. Just be patient." Prussia reassured him calmly.

"Why the hell did Flavio have to be the driver? I don't get why I can't drive! I'm freaking nineteen!" America said angrily. "In fact, why couldn't you drive, Gil?"

"Because you forbid me from doing so, saying that I'll take forever driving and you even said that you'd rather have Flavio as the driver." Prussia deadpanned with his usual exasperated face. "And I don't think I even need to explain why you can't drive, especially with your Lightner counterpart involved."

America opened his mouth to retort "Huh, you're right. I did say that."

"So does that mean we can go shopping?" Romano's eyes glimmered in hope.

"Oh, hell no!" America shot him down, much to Romano's dismay. "Just turn left already, Flavio. We're like a minute away from Central Park. Punch it so we can be there at the bridge when Al gets there!"

/ / / / /

(Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed OST: Graffiti City)

Hungary had never been on a motorcycle before, and honestly, she didn't really know if that was a fact she should be embarrassed about considering her long life and her creative ways to severely injure Prussia for being Prussia, but she brightened up when she saw America come back from getting their ride into the city with just that, a motorcycle.

He looked so… so…

After stifling a giggle and trying terribly not to look like she wanted to smile stupidly or laugh at him because of how… erm… he looked, (God, why did he have to be so…) she asked him why did he have a motorcycle parked here and where he got the keys? America simply smiled and said that years ago Allen, his 'dark' counterpart, decided to leave a motorcycle here, which was apparently named 'Roxy'…

Admittedly, Hungary didn't even find that weird or dumb. First, she's… pretty weird too. Some might even say batshit crazy (you might hear this from a certain Prussian or Diet Twilight character, in fact…). And she remembered a period of her life when she started naming her frying pans for… some reason…

A-Anyway, this Allen left a motorcycle and the keys to it in the supply closet from where Hungary and America ended up here in the first place so he, and America quoted 'Wouldn't have to go through the same crap of trying to find a ride over and over again or have those damn gossipy taxi drivers think that he (Allen) dyed his hair'.

Hmm, sounded very reasonable…

So, America was right, they were going to travel 'badass style'. And when he flashed his trademark grin, threw a helmet into her hands and said, and in a very cheesy manner 'You ready for the ride of your life, darlin?' Hungary knew she was in for a ride.

And of course, she was right.

Now, in the present, she held onto America with her arms wrapped around him as she gawked at her surroundings, her very bright surroundings, while trying not to burst out laughing in absolute glee every time America suddenly blasted off again or dangerously swerved to one side. Who knew riding with America could be this much fun?

Alright, a part of her's amazed how they haven't crashed into anything or run over anyone with America's insane driving, but he wouldn't be so reckless if he wasn't confident that he wouldn't hit any pedestrians, right?

Besides, it's hard to focus on that when you have these surroundings. Hungary's surprised her head hasn't fallen off with quickly she was moving it around as she stared at her surroundings with perhaps too much amazement. But everything was just so bright and colorful, and, gosh, Hungary didn't even know where to start…

The red sun, which Hungary's still having trouble getting over, loomed overheard as Times Square was alive with bright advertisements and billboards illuminating the streets and people buzzing about crowding the streets, just like back in their world, but just like the sky, it's different. She didn't think she recognized a lot of the names or brands they showed for one, but she wasn't sure if that's just her.

And then there's the fact that a lot of boards, jumbotrons and stuff had… well, some of the colors were a bit… off… though not all of them were like that. She saw a lot of blue, purple, red, magenta, indigo, etc. It's… kind of hard to describe, really. In fact, she recently realized that most of the lights seen in the windows of the many, many buildings and skyscrapers were either white or blue.

Was that a trend or a thing here?

Weirdness aside, this place looked really impressive!

"Liking the sights, Liz?" America called over when they stopped on a red right and the humans started crossing.

"Yes, but a lot of the colors seem to be different!" Hungary said loudly over the sounds of the other cars and the rest of the noise in the city. "I think I remember seeing more different colors in the advertisements in the other Times Square."

America shrugged, and Hungary just knew that he was smiling. "Yeah, don't worry, it's not just you. Remember, it's not called the Dark World for nothing. Still, you gotta give them props for making it look so cool!"

Hungary nodded, and she glanced at a colorful billboard for… G.I. Joe the Musical? She felt her mouth twitch, and she laughed. "Couldn't agree more."

"You'll see that the colors might be kinda 'off' or somethin' in a lotta places here, including Central Park." America added helpfully but cryptically, then he snickered. "Boy, I can't wait to see the look on your face when you see it, Liz! You're gonna love it!"

Hungary smiled, learning more and more to trust America. "I think I will, Alfred. So, how long until we reach Central Park?"

"We should be there in about five or seven minutes, Liz!" America answered excitedly, and boy, was he excited. "I'm sure Allen's already-

He stopped himself when the traffic light changed.

"Ooh, green light!" The engine roared as America laughed wildly. "Here we gooooo!"

And so, they blasted off again, no, literally, they flew for a few seconds before they landed at the ground again, somehow without crashing the bike or killing anyone. Hungary had honestly gotten used to it already, especially since she's also a crazy driver. This was nothing.

They sped through the speeds, along with waiting at the traffic lights before blasting off again and avoiding running over crowds of pedestrians. Hungary just held on tight and kept admiring her surroundings until suddenly America spoke.

"We're here!" He cheerfully announced as he pulled over near a sidewalk.

For what felt like the hundredth time today, Hungary's jaw dropped.

A-America told her that the colors here might be off, but Hungary wasn't expecting this! W-Well, she probably should've expected it, but it still shocked her! A purple sky and a red sun were one thing, b-but this… this was even weirder! T-The trees, the grass, the flowers on the tress and the grass, and even the road…

They're all in different colors!

Hungary stared at it all wide-eyed, trying to digest it. She saw that the grass was purple, and maybe a cerulean blue in some parts in the distance. The leaves on the trees were a pretty combination of red and magenta, with the tree trunk being a darker shade of brown, almost black. The road, the pavement, it was blue. Everything looked so odd like that, but so beautiful at the same time.

Huh… Well, what do you know? Hungary smiled wryly at the park. The grass and trees had different colors here, she should've figured. Why did she have a feeling that this was just the tip of the iceberg?

"Ha, told ya that the colors were different here!" America chirped from in front of her, obviously grinning from behind his helmet. "Freaked the heck outta me when I first saw it too. Makes you feel like you're in some fantasy land or a videogame, huh? Pfft…! Man, your face is…!"

America chuckled, and Hungary's eye twitched as she crossed her arms. "Oh, well excuse me for being shocked at… at this!"

"Hey, hey, I'm just joking around, dude." America chuckled, holding his hands up in surrender. "It's really pretty, don't ya think, Liz?"

"Yes, yes, it is." Very pretty indeed.

"Yeah… Well, come on! Let's get going! Allen's not a patient guy!" America laughed as he got off the bike. He took off his helmet, freeing his longer hair, and he immediately spluttered as his hair got in his mouth and eyes. Hungary couldn't help but giggle at his expense. "Pff- blah! Oh, come on! I- Ugh, this is why I don't let my hair grow out!"

"I think your long hair's very cute, America." Hungary commented with a big grin as she removed her helmet, and she straightened her own hair. "You look like one of those cute surfer men you can find in your country."

Hungary wasn't sure where the 'cute' compliment came from, but she didn't regret it one bit, especially when she saw America blush red.

America blushed red, and he swiftly pulled his cowboy hat from nowhere as he placed it on his head. It wasn't often that he got flustered. "But I'm not a surfer dude, I'm a cowboy! Surfer dudes don't get on horses and ride off to the sunset or get played by Chuck Norris!"

Hungary snorted as he saw him childishly puff his cheeks. "Oh, it's not that bad, Alfred. You can still be a cowboy with that cute longer hair of yours."

America considered this as he stroked his chin. "Well, there are cowboys who rock the longer hair look…. Oh, like Erron Black from the Mortal Kombat games! Love that guy. Or even better, John Marston from Red Dead Redemption! Awesome game with a just as awesome protagonist. He's a badass! Let me explain, John Marston is a dude who back in his younger years was a…"

Hungary's eye twitched, again, as America started going on a long-winded explanation about why this John Marston was one of the greatest videogame characters of all time and better than Red Dead Redemption 2's protagonist Arthur Morgan, although America also started to then point all the good points about that character, and somehow this culminated into a debate with himself over which game was better.

He's debating himself.

Hungary didn't know if she found America's habit of going into long-winded explanations and analysis of why this franchise, series or character was great or whatever annoying or endearing. Right she was leaning a little towards annoying, because while Hungary did appreciate talking about these things every now and then, they were kind of in a hurry.

This kind of reminded her of Poland's debates over which clothing store was more fabulous or whether he should dye his ponies' mane pink, to be honest.

"Alfred…" Hungary called gently.

"But then again, GTA had pretty much same thing where you can just straight-up murder people whenever you want. And I'd be lying if I didn't… maybe… I dunno, shoot a couple of jerks in my really bad days. It's actually pretty good for unwinding…"

"Alfred."

"…It's kind of morbid, totally not heroic, and maybe kinda cruel, but if you ask me, I think the developers made the suffragette annoying on purpose."

"ALFRED!"

"Yeah, dude?" America asked, blinked.

Glad that she finally interrupted him from his fanatic rambling, Hungary smiled indulgently. "While I'm sure that those characters and games are as great as you say you are, and as much as I'd like you to hear explain it in extremely long detail, I think you're forgetting that there's a certain impatiently someone waiting for us.."

America blinked, and when he seemed to have got it, he paled in horror. "Oh my gosh, you're right! We're gonna be late!"

Suddenly he grabbed Hungary's hand, to her surprise and for some reason delight, and America grinned as he pulled her along as he started to go into the park. Hungary wasn't able to utter out a protest from her mouth before she found herself running to not trip and to keep up with America, who just laughed.

"Come on, Liz! Adventure awaits!" America cheered eagerly, pumping his fist in the air.

(Deltarune OST: The Field of Hopes and Dreams)

Hungary's brief moment of panic and slight displeasure at being pulled along for the ride vanished once they got, and she marveled at the weird but familiar environment now that she got a better look at it, and wow, it really was beautiful.

It helped that America started to slow down, and she saw him smiling fondly with his free hand on his cowboy hat. Even he couldn't help but stop and admire the weirdness of it all, though he's probably been here many times before.

She had to freeze for a moment when she heard leaves crunching under her boots, and Hungary's eye widened when she saw the red/pink leaved scattered all over the ground. Seeing leaves with those colors was still a little surreal, like with the whole sky and sun thing, but it helped hearing them crunch or fly with the wind, it once again confirmed to her that this was not a dream.

But she was still a little puzzled when they passed a few flowers and those flowers were… unusually colored as far as she saw. Figures. Flowers came in tons of colors. What could this world have? Black roses, blue daises or red sunflowers?

Hungary snorted to herself, but then she scrunched up her face. You know what? That last one would probably make sense…

Looking at all this, Hungary had to wonder what the fields and flowers were like in this world's Hungary. She didn't hide the fact she took great pride in her beautifully preserved natural landscapes, and her amazing national parks. If this Hungary was as much as a 'sweetheart' as America said she was, she paused for a moment to grip America's hand tightly, then she should trust that 'Dark World Hungary' put as much effort into preserving the nature of their country as she did?

Before she could delve deeper into that thought, Hungary was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts when suddenly America exclaimed 'oh shit!' and hastily pushed her behind a tree with him following suit.

Hungary yelped, and she looked at America, demanding an explanation. "Alfred, what the-"

"Shhh!" America shushed, finger to his lips. He looked panicked. "Do you want them to hear us?"

"Who?" Hungary asked, and when America turned around to spy from the tree instead of her answering her, she narrowed her eyes and she peeked out to see what he's looking at. When she did, she saw a few groups of humans pass by.

She stared at America with a raised eyebrow, and when he finally looked at her, he blanched.

"Hey, don't you remember what I told you, Liz?" America exclaimed defensively, anxiously pushing up his glasses. "We can't let the humans here see us! That's a big no-no! So, we gotta be careful and stay out of sight as much as we can."

Hungary recalled the conversation she had, and suddenly she felt stupid for not realizing it sooner. "Oh… right."

America nodded and went back to keeping an eye out for the humans until they all left while Hungary was left feeling… a little uncomfortable. So, she decided to spend the time by looking around and once again testing to see for herself if the red sun can't harm your eyes.

Turns out that it can't.

Wonder what's the science behind that?

The two of them waited in what Hungary guessed was awkward silence.

"So, how you liking it so far, Liz?" America suddenly asked her, looking back at her curiously. Guess he got tired of it.

Hungary was a little surprised by the question, but she answered honestly, smiling gently. "Well… I think this place is beautiful. I mean, I've never seen anything like it, obviously. Not that your Central Park isn't beautiful too, it's just that-"

"Dude, don't worry, I get it." America chuckled. "This place is awesome, but my place is also awesome in its own special way is what you're getting at, right?"

"Yes, exactly!" Hungary nodded, glad he understood. "And I think… I'm really going to like this place."

"Yeah, you bet you will!" America said confidently, and suddenly he smirked, which admittedly took Hungary aback. "Especially when you see my other surprise… You know, cause Allen's the first surprise. But wait, does he really count as a surprise anymore now that I told ya about him? Well, guess there's still his attitude and personality to-"

"What other surprise?" Hungary asked sharply, making sure to interrupt him before he could start going off-topic again.

"Sorry, no spoilers…" America winked, snickering.

Hungary deflated, and she pouted. "You can't be serious…"

"Hey, it won't be a surprise if I tell you all about it." America laughed sheepishly.

"This isn't going to become a habit of yours, is it?" Hungary asked, raising an amused eyebrow. She felt a little annoyed, but she wanted to laugh at the same time. America tended to do that a lot.

"Aw, come on, don't get all grumpy over something like that. That's England's job!"

Speaking of that grumpy old Englishman…

"What do you think England, Germany and the others are doing back at our world, anyway?" Hungary asked with a sly grin, nudging him in the shoulder. "I bet they're freaking out getting their panties in a twist because they can't find us and give us an earful, huh?"

And punish her for provoking them earlier, Hungary mentally added proudly.

That made him grin from ear to ear. America laughed, though a bit more quietly than usual, and he sat down on the purple grass. "You kidding? I can already hear Artie screaming 'you bloody wanker!' in my ear for three hours straight. And boy, when everyone finds out that we've gone AWOL when the break's over…"

"It's going to be hell." Hungary finished with a couple of giggling, and she sat down next to him. "You know, I don't think anyone would ever admit it, but I think the meetings are even more chaotic when you're not around to present your 'marvelous' ideas."

"Hey, my ideas are genius!" America exclaimed upsettably, and Hungary snorted. "Seriously! And my latest idea would've totally solved global warming and the 'taking care of the scattered members of ISIS' too! I'll just have Tony and his galaxy buddies make a black hole that'll suck up all the heat trapped in the atmosphere, China's stinky air, and all the remaining ISIS members! Pretty clever, am I right?

Hungary stared at him in utter shock for a moment before she broke into a trembling smile. She struggled not to giggle. "A… black hole… that can suck up all the heat, dirty air, and ISIS members? Made by your alien friend?"

"Tony, yeah!" America nodded, just beaming in pride. "And his alien buddies too! Zim, Garbog, Marvin, Meap, Stich, Chad from accounting, and Fox the Dog! They're a great team!"

"Fox the Dog…?" Hungary repeated in bafflement, then shook her head. "No, nevermind. So, they can really do that? Make a black hole that can only suck some incredibly specific things and nothing else?""

"Yeah! There's been tons of advances in blackhole and wormhole technology in the planets of the East Milky Way!" America claimed as if it was supposed to be common knowledge "It's the latest craze for aliens to literally get rid of their problems!"

That's… a little scary, to be honest.

"And you're sure it wouldn't accidentally suck up the moon or the Earth in the process?" Hungary asked skeptically.

"Aw, don't worry. Tony says there's only a ten percent chance of that happening." America chirped, as if that guaranteed that nothing wouldn't go horribly wrong.

"Oh…" Well, chances of the Earth getting destroyed aside, that's actually a pretty good plan!

Hungary wondered if those aliens could also make a black hole that could only suck up whiny European hypocrites and barbaric Muslim immigrants.

"Is stuff really that much worse without me around?" America asked, snapping Hungary out of her very vivid imagination. "I kinda figured that without me, you know… being me, things would be more chill and stuff, dude."

"Trust me, it's unbelievably worse. Without you introducing your ideas, things fall apart much more quickly." Hungary said gravely, and then she frowned. "Poor Feliks… I feel bad for abandoning him like that. I hope he'll have Lithuania to hang out with while I'm gone."

"And I hope he can annoy the commie for me too…" America said hopefully, and then his face scrunched up in distaste. "Boy, I hope that Russian bastard doesn't sit on Canada again."

"Who?" Hungary asked, puzzled.

"Eh, no one important… I think." Why did his smile look strained?

"Oh… So… Where are we meeting the other you, again?" Hungary decided to ask, wanting to change the topic.

"Right at the Bow Bridge, it shouldn't be that far from here." America told her quickly, and he flashed a blinding grin. "How do I know this? Because the hero here has spent years memorizing every inch of Central Park, and it helps that it's pretty much identical to my Central Park except for the colors."

"Very… impressive…" Hungary complimented, chuckling a bit. "And there won't be any humans at the bridge?"

"Not a lot of people go over there, much less stay more than a few minutes. So, it's totes one of the best places for a secret meeting!" America chirped, and he peeked out from behind the tree again. "Okay, I think the coast is clear. You ready get going again?"

"If you are."

"Then let's go! Allen's prolly getting impatient."

They continued their way to the meeting place, and Hungary found herself getting dragged by America once again, but she really didn't have any complaints about it.

Eventually they did arrive at a lake and there was a long, large, and quite beautifully adorned white bridge for them to cross. This must be the place. America abruptly topped in his tracks, accidentally causing Hungary to bump into him from behind in the process. She winced, but she quickly saw that he didn't seem to notice, as he was too busy grinning at the horizon.

"Hey, look! Look over there, Liz!" America exclaimed, pointing at three figures standing on the bridge. "That's him! The handsome dude with red hair!"

Hungary squinted her eyes. It's hard to make them out from this distance, but she did spot a redhead. "Oh, your counterpart has red hair. Is that also a thing here?"

America, in his excitement, apparently didn't listen, and he began pulling her again. "Come on, let's go meet him!"

Okay… So, it's time to meet the other America… Honestly, Hungary wasn't sure if she should be nervous or… No, no, of course not. If she could handle Prussia and the Castlevania wannabe for centuries, then she could handle anything! Besides, there's her trusty frying pan if anything went wrong… But she'll try not to, for her America's sake.

"HEY, ALLEN!" America yelled deafeningly.

(Deltarune OST: Friendship)

Now that got the three's attention, and the redhead, the most visible and the closest one to them, jumped and whirled around, and Hungary gasped. She couldn't believe… America's face was staring right back at them.

It wasn't even like with America's twin brother, whatever his name was, this doppelgänger looked more like America than his own twin brother! Now that was saying something. They had the exact same face… but just like this world, it's still different. The other America, Allen, had the same longer and slightly wild hair that reached past his chin and barely touched his shoulders as America had when he arrived here, but…

Like America said before, Allen had red hair that almost looked brown in this dark place. Hungary saw that his eyes were blood red instead of sky blue, and they looked colder, almost angrier. His skin was slightly darker, oh, and he also had shades perched on his head. And while America was a cowboy, Allen looked like a sort of punk. He wore a dark brown jacket with rolled up sleeves over a black shirt that seemed to have the Batman insignia, and black sneakers.

This was… amazing. Hungary felt her lips twitch into an awed smile. And not to mention she felt pretty excited… Why? Oh, who cares? She'd never seen anything like this, except for the twins, but this another thing!

And now that they were getting closer, Hungary got a better look at the other two. They were men, and…

And…

No… way…

Hungary could only let America keep dragging her along behind him as her mind went blank and she felt her mouth drop in utter shock once again for the thousandth time today, and for a moment she wondered if she was imagining it. No, no, no… Why… This can't be… But then she remembered where she was and what America told her, but it didn't really help.

When America had told her about the 'this world has different versions of us' thing, she was already ready for meeting another, and very different, America, but nothing told her to prepare her for this! Was this supposed to be his surprise! Because, hell, was Hungary surprised. She was surprised, shocked, aghast, astounded, astonished, stunned, flabbergasted and all of the above!

She just couldn't believe her eyes. It's… It's…

Prussia! It was Prussia! It was Prussia, but it's not, and why the hell was he dressed like a priest?! With a cross over his neck and everything and she was pretty sure she's seeing a couple of Teutonic Order cross symbols on his… white… shoulder, oh, whatever it was called! Oh, and he wasn't smirking. Now that's a welcome change…

And with them was also… Italy? No, the face looked a little off… Romano?! That guy with blond hair, the oddly patterned t-shirt, designer jeans and gay pink scarf and sunglasses was Romano's counterpart?!

This world's… weird.

As they Allen spotted America and his face broke into a big smirk.

"Hey, hey, Al! What's…" He trailed off when his gaze went to Hungary, and his smirk was promptly replaced with a look of shock. "…huh…?"

Oh dear, America didn't tell him about…

Hungary, not really sure how to react to that, offered a friendly enough smile and an awkward wave to the redheaded America, who still stared at her shock. Then she began to feel slightly panicked when Other Prussia and Other Romano came into view, wearing the same shocked expressions as Allen.

"Um, uh…" Hungary stumbled on her words a little before she forced herself to get her act together. "Hello… I'm Hungary, although you probably already… heh… I'm normally very good at introducing myself to people, really…"

Except when they're basically carbon copies of people she knew for centuries.

"I-I-I… I…" Allen stuttered for what had to be an embarrassingly long time, and he slapped himself before he gawked at her. "Erszi?"

Hungary blinked. Her counterpart's name? "Uh, no. I'm…"

"Mio Dio, what happened to you, Erszi?" Other Romano exclaimed in horror. "I thought you were never going to abandon the color pink! And that top so doesn't go with that skirt! Did your near-impeccable fashion sense just up and vanish? What happened to the Hungary I know and love?"

"Hey, I like this outfit!" Hungary barked angrily.

"I can't believe this…" Other Prussia muttered in disbelief as he walked over to her, his voice lacking the usual arrogance and cheer Light World Prussia had. Hungary noticed that his face had several scars. He shakily reached out a hand. "You… Your face… even that glimmer in your eyes… it's just like Hungary's…"

Feeling a little uncomfortable, Hungary took a wary step back. Thankfully, Prussia got the message and lowered his hand, a guilty look on his face that actually made Hungary feel bad.

"But you're not her, are you?" Other Prussia said grimly, narrowing his eyes at her. "Different hair and eye color, not to mention that she wouldn't wear something that so… unfeminine…"

Did… Hungary even want to know?

"Surprise!" America happily shouted, causing Hungary to jump, and he wrapped an arm around her. "I told ya that I had something I wanted to show you guys and here she is! Meet the Light World Hungary, or as she's also known: Elizaveta Héderváry! Let me tell ya, she's a riot!"

He laughed, oblivious to the atmosphere as always. Luckily, that little explanation seemed to calm them down…

"I should've known our dear Erszi wouldn't wear such a horrible combination." Other Romano said fondly, and he smiles charmingly at her "I apologize for the misunderstanding, bella!"

Hungary wasn't impressed. Why did she have the feeling that she's not going to like him very much?

"Remarkable... So this is Erszi's..." Prussia said in awe, and he became a little flustered. "O-Oh, forgive me, I should've known. It's just that... you're only second Lightner we've ever met, the first being Alfred here of course."

Huh… On the other hand, she'll definitely like this alternate Prussia.

"Light World, huh? Figures…" America grumbles, then he did a double-take, and he exploded. "Wait, WHAT?! You brought someone from the Lightner World with you?! Why?! I thought you said, and that we fucking agreed that's it for the best, that you were never ever gonna bring one of the little shits from your place to this world!"

Little shits? Hungary scowled at him. Why, she oughta-

"I know what I said, Allen, and what I said, but you gotta trust me on this…" America gave his best smile, and hugged Hungary close. She couldn't help but smile. "Hungary here's a good friend. I trust her, and she trusted me enough to go into a dark and scary closet. She also said that she wouldn't tattle, and I believe her just like I believed in Washington!"

Hungary felt her face burn a little. Oh, well, that's...

"Of course that's what she says…" Allen scoffed, and he glared suspiciously at Hungary. "You're too nice, Chops, that's what. You can't trust any of these human whoring Lightners to keep their mouths shut! They're not like you, Al. In the end, all they care about is-"

"Allen!" Other Prussia hissed disapprovingly.

"Language!" Other Romano piped up.

"And what do you know about our world?" Hungary snapped, having enough of being unintentionally or intentionally insulted. "And it's not like the others would believe me even if I told them that 'hey, did you all know there's another world in the supply closet upstairs?'."

"More than enough from what Chops told me." Allen growled. "And that's no fucking excuse. I've seen enough of you Lightner clods to know that-"

"Hey!" America shouted, surprising everyone present, and Hungary flinched at the angry look on his face. "Come on, Allen, we've talked about this! I'm not as stupid as I look and you know I wouldn't share this big secret with someone if I wasn't sure I could trust them! Liz wouldn't rat us out, she's better than that! I brought her here because she's going through as much shit as I am these days, and I wanted her to be happy like I am when I'm with you guys!"

Hungary won't lie, she felt a small surge of pleasure at seeing America defend her like that.

But somehow, this made Allen even angrier. "You brought the Erszi knockoff here because of pity? Oh, you gotta be kidding me! See, this is what I'm telling you, Alfred. You're just too nice for your own-"

"I brought her here because I wanted her to be happy. We get each other, y'know? And I knew that bringing her here would cheer her up, and I wanted to share the fun of this world with her! What's wrong with helping an awesome friend in distress?

"What's wrong with it? You-"

"Allen, if I may… interject…" Other Prussia spoke up, briefly giving a reprimanding look at Allen. "I think we should trust Alfred's decision or at least get to know Miss Elizaveta before we jump to such rash conclusions, don't you think? You should know, how much the secret of our world means to him. Sharing it with someone else couldn't have been easy."

"I agree with Gillen." Other Romano said firmly with his arms crossed. "And in the end, it's Alfredo who decides who he brings to this world. I understand your need to be a, how you say, mother hen for your dear friend…"

"I am not a fucking mother hen!" Allen squawked angrily.

"You kinda are, dude." America pointed out with a nervous smile.

"…But as you often like to rudely yell to me, Alfredo is an adult too." Other Romano said gently. It's really off-putting to see him so calm and… happy. "And you also forget that he is smarter than he looks, sometimes even more than you, in fact!"

"And you wonder why I still ended up cranky…" Allen grumbled.

"See? They get it!" America said with a victorious smile, much to Allen's chagrin. "Besides, how can you stay mad at this pretty face? It's Erszi's face too, you know."

'Pretty face?' Hungary blinked.

"Because. That's. Not. Her." Allen growled through gritted teeth.

"Aw, come on, Allen. Be nice to her, pretty pwease?"

"Ohohohoho hell no, don't you 'pwease' me, Chops. And you better not- oh no…"

What happened next nearly caused Hungary to either barrel over in laughter or coo at the cuteness of the sight, because America started giving Allen what had to be the greatest and most powerful puppy dog look Hungary had ever seen.

Allen's scowl began to crumble but he was obviously stubbornly trying not to let it show that he was losing… badly.

"Try giving him the sweetest, kindest, cutest smile you can muster." America whispered mischievously as he leaned close, and he snickered. "He's got a huge soft spot for your counterpart, so this oughta win him over."

Hungary grinned and nodded, liking the idea. It helped that she had experienced with that sort of thing. She remembered all the times she got Austria to stop being mad at her or lashing out at Italy with her smiles. Even with a stubborn guy like Allen, it shouldn't be too hard, especially with Alfred's puppy dog look. Turning to Allen, she gave the sweetest, kindest, cutest smile she could.

It seemed to be working. Allen was trembling now. To make matters worse for him, Other Romano was also giving him a similar look (except that it looked more weird than cute on Romano's face of all people) and Other Prussia was giving a stern glare that might give Germany's a run for his money.

Surely enough, Allen groaned loudly and threw his hands up in frustration.

"Fine… I won't be a bitch about it." Allen growled grudgingly, likely at conceding defeat more than anything.

"YAY!" America jumped in glee, and to Hungary's surprise, he ran up and hugged Allen. "You're the best, Allen!"

Allen scoffed, and returned the hug with a dark blush on his cheeks. "Yeah, you bet your ass I am. I'm still keeping an eye on her, though."

"Sure you will…" America laughed as if he didn't take Allen's words seriously, and he pushed Allen towards Hungary. "Now come on, you two, go introduce yourselves!"

Allen looked like he really didn't want to, but after staring at Hungary for a while, his expression suddenly softened, and he reached out a gloved hand. "Sup? I'm Allen, the cool one. And you better fucking believe me when I say you won't find anyone as badass as me in this shitty world!"

Hungary only gave him a deadpan stare, but she shook his hand. "Elizaveta Héderváry…"

America was friends with him?!

"I am Prussia, as you might already know, but you may call me Gillen." Other Prussia stated politely with a small smile. "It is nice to meet you. I'm glad to see that you are just kind as our Hungary, and I hope we will become good friends."

Hungary could only gape at him "O-Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that, my world's Prussia…"

"No need. Alfred already explained how… difficult my Lightner self can be." Gillen assured her with an apologetic smile. "I am… very sorry for any and all trouble he has caused you. Please don't hold it against me."

Okay, Hungary had to smile. "No worries. I like you already."

"Yeah, Gillen here's a hell lot cooler than that washed-up has-been!" Allen barked, smirking proudly. "Unlike that loser, Gil here's still a nation, and he's got a lot more land! And he's one of the most powerful countries in Europe!"

Hungary's jaw dropped, again (how many more times will this happen today?), and she looked at Gillen in shock, who only slightly blushed at that statement. The country of Prussia still existed in this world?! How was that possible?! And boy, imagine how her Prussia would react if he ever found out about this…

"Hey, that's kinda mean, Allen." America pouted, crossing his arms angrily. "Gilbert can be cool! Even now that he's not a nation anymore, he's a great friend!"

Allen scoffed. "Sure, keep telling yourself that…"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Hungary shouted before this could evolve into an argument, and she pointed an accusatory finger at Gillen. "You're still a nation?! Were you never dissolved at the end of the Second World War and became East Germany? But how…?

"It's… Well, you'll find that the history of this world is quite different from the one in your world." Prussia explained calmly, scratching the back of his head. "I assume this is the result when you have the nations in charge with personalities vastly different from the ones you know. In this world, I never joined my brother in any quest for world dominance."

"And my brother and I never supported fascism, never knew who this Mussolini was until Alfredo mentioned him in fact!" Other Romano chirped with a wide smile, which then faltered for a moment. "Although, I guess he practically is a fascist in a way… Oh, where are my manners? My name is Flavio, the fabulous personification of South Italy! It's nice to meet you, bella!"

Fabulous? Oh gosh… Hungary's eyes widened. He's practically Poland… Oh, well, on the bright side, at least Hungary now had an idea of how to deal with him.

She smiled, trying not to giggle. "It's nice to meet you too."

"Yeah, yeah, everyone's getting along and happy and shit" Allen bared his teeth, still unhappy for some reason. "Can we go thrash some tourists and Canadians now?"

"Aw, come on, Allen, cheer up a little." America kindly suggested, only to receive a scoff in response. This made him frown. "Geez, did something happen, dude? You're not usually this cranky, you know…"

(Deltarune OST: THE HOLY)

Allen's eyes widened, and his face became pained as he glanced at Gillen and Flavio, who both also looked a little nervous and at a loss as to what to say.

"What?" America demanded, reading the atmosphere for once, and he paled. "Wait, you mean something did happen?"

"Should we tell him?"

"No way. I don't want to worry Alfred."

"I think it's too late for that, bambino…"

"What?!" America looked at them angrily. "Seriosuly, what's the deal? I'm not a kid!"

The three shared one more uncertain glance with each other before Prussia cleared his throat, looking grim. "I'm… sorry… but I'm afraid you and Miss Elizaveta came to the Dark World at a very bad time, Alfred."

America looked very worried. "Wha… What do you mean a bad time?"

"As in, this world is on the verge of war." Prussia said gravely, narrowing his eyes. "And if we don't fix things soon… Well, you'll find yourself in the middle of a wasteland in your next visit."

Welp... Now we're gonna get into the conflict of the story! Hopefully I'll be able to update next week (I probably will)! Also, I hope you spotted the references in this chapter. Please review if you have a minute.